366 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



A RAINY DAY AT SALFORD 

 PRierRS. 



By P. T. Deakin. 



On the Midland line, at about an hour 

 and a half's ride from Birmingham, lies the 

 little village of Salford Priors. The country 

 hereabouts is situated on the limestone for- 

 mation, and besides being tolerably well- 

 wooded, has the rivers Arrow and Avon 

 running through it, so that it is a very desir- 

 able place for a naturalist to ramble about 

 in ; and the following sketch represents a 

 Saturday afternoon excursion spent there 

 with a party of Conchologists-. 



Immediately on leaving the station we 

 turned to the right and continuing our way 

 for a few hundred yards, past green hedge- 

 rows and thatched cottages built of lime- 

 stone, we were soon in the haunts of the 

 molluscs, principally Helix as;persa and 

 nemoraliSf both of which are exceedingly 

 plentiful and very rich in variations. Buli- 

 mus olscunis also occurs sparingly along the 

 hedge banks. A little farther up the lane 

 past the church, we came to the " Bell Inn," 

 and after passing through the house and 

 garden found ourselves in a path leading 

 across the fields, along which we went, 

 stopping, however, for a few minutes by the 

 side of an old ditch, with willows and flags 

 on the banks, here we found Bytliinia tenia- 

 culata and Pla?W7'iis compla7iatus in abun- 

 dance, with an occasional P. vortex. 



We next climbed a few stiles, crossed the 

 railway line (Salford to Evesham), and a 

 small river where Pisidium fontinale and B. 

 tentacidatay were found in small quantity, 

 and had proceeded across two or more fields, 

 when it came on to rain rather sharply. We 

 turned up our collars, put up umbrellas, 

 and then commenced to ransack a couple 

 of nearly dried up ditches and succeeded in 

 finding plenty of good specimens of Succinea 

 jnitris, climbing up the grass and rushes, 

 which grow round the edge. Another ditch 



farther on yielded a few lAinncea. palustr ^ 

 and peregra. The confluence of the rivel 

 Avon and Arrow next came into view, ai 

 we had to cross a slippery single plai ^^'^ 

 bridge, with a wire hand-rail, and the wati li- 

 rushing and foaming down a waterfall not 

 foot below. The bridge is about 60 yari It 

 long, and is a rather shaky place for nervo 2)' 

 people to venture across, but there we ! f 

 none belonging to our party that we st: 

 troubled that way. The place is the bou H 

 dary between the counties of Warvv^ick ai ^ 

 Worcester, so when we got on to the oth I' 

 side we found ourselves in the latter coun n-^ 

 and in the Cleve Prior District. Stoppi ipi 

 for a few minutes by the mill, which stan K 

 on the Cleve side, we took off our coa k/i 

 turned up our shirt-sleeves, and, kneeli: t ' 

 down on the stonework of the mill-dam, £ i).' 

 on to find Neritina fiuviatilis and Bythin 

 tentaculata, which fix themselves betwe 

 the chinks of the stones and among t'l^^ 

 water weed, and managed to find a fc' 

 supply of each. The former is not ve*^--- 

 abundant round about here, so I thoug 

 myself lucky to get half-a-dozen. We th 

 marched down to the river-ford, and fish I 

 up with our colanders a few specimens f 

 Sjjhcerium rivicola, Vnio timidus and b 

 var. radiata, and a dead Anodonta or tv . 

 There were plenty of dead Breissenapo - 

 mor2)ha, and Pahidina viv'vpara, but th 

 were all worn and chipped, so not wo:i 

 carrying home. 



Past the mill there is a set of rudely (t 

 stone steps, leading up the hill towards i:^ 

 village of Cleve Prior, and we took t; 

 direction, not without sundry falls over 1- 

 wet and slippery stones, and after abd 

 ten minutes climbing up a steep muc 

 track managed to reach the top. Here 

 a fine day the view is grand — the slant 

 hill-side, with the river wandering at 

 foot and the wooded country for a ba 



ground, makes you feel as if you could 

 down for a day or two to take it in. j 



